00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 41                                                                                           
01 Relating to consideration of individual fishery quota shares block proposals by the                                     
02 North Pacific Fishery Management Council.                                                                               
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has recently approved an                                          
05 individual fishery quota (IFQ) share program for the North Pacific and Bering Sea halibut and                           
06 sablefish fisheries; and                                                                                                
07  WHEREAS the IFQ program for the halibut and sablefish fisheries is intended to                                         
08 provide long-term sustainable harvests of these resources; and                                                          
09  WHEREAS Alaska coastal communities depend on the ability to harvest marine                                             
10 resources and must be beneficiaries of the IFQ program; and                                                             
11  WHEREAS residents of Alaska have expressed concern that the IFQ program                                                
12 approved by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council allows consolidation of IFQ                                    
13 shares and may reduce the size of the fishing fleet which could in turn reduce the benefits of                          
14 the IFQ program to Alaska fishermen, Alaska coastal communities, and the state as a whole;                              

01 and                                                                                                                     
02  WHEREAS the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has a responsibility to                                           
03 respond to the concerns that have arisen regarding consolidation of IFQ shares; and                                     
04  WHEREAS several proposals regarding transfers of blocks of IFQ shares have been                                        
05 developed and are before the North Pacific Fishery Management Council for its consideration;                            
06 and                                                                                                                     
07  WHEREAS these block proposals would limit the amount of consolidation that could                                       
08 occur under the IFQ program, and thereby help to maintain the present diversity of the                                  
09 longline fishing fleet, to provide an entry level fishery, and to ensure that the benefits of the                       
10 IFQ program accrue to Alaska fishermen, processors, and coastal communities;                                            
11  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the North                                          
12 Pacific Fishery Management Council to address the concerns expressed by Alaska residents                                
13 regarding consolidation of IFQ shares by amending the IFQ program for the halibut and                                   
14 sablefish fisheries to include a block proposal system.                                                                 
15  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                                
16 United States; the Honorable Ronald H. Brown, Secretary of the U.S. Department of                                       
17 Commerce; the Honorable Leon E. Pannetta, Director of the Office of Management and                                      
18 Budget; the Honorable Diana Josephson, Acting Administrator, National Oceanic and                                       
19 Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce; the Honorable Nancy Foster,                                    
20 Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Oceanic and Atmospheric                                          
21 Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce; the Honorable Richard Lauber, Chair of the                                 
22 North Pacific Fishery Management Council; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the                                      
23 Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                             
24 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.